Small store, BIG win

TRACI ANDERSON

Published 7:00 pm, Sunday, March 9, 2003

Laker Junior High School student Amber Ziel certainly doesn't. Her trip into the store earlier this year proved to be very rewarding.

Amber, 13, purchased two Nerds candy ropes from the store, operated by student council members, and went to her fifth hour class on what seemed to be an ordinary day. What happened after that was extraordinary.

"I wasn't supposed to eat the candy in class, but I did," Amber said with a smile. "I saw something at the bottom of the package. I pulled it out. It was a green and purple box that made noise. I thought it was a bomb."

The concerned seventh-grader took the goofy-sounding contraption to her teacher, Diane Lundberg.

"The package said I was a winner and everyone in the class was freaking out," Amber recalled. "People in the (junior high) office heard us and they came in to see what was going on. They put the screamer box in the office for the rest of the day."

Amber retrieved the box and went to her friend's house after school.

"I called the phone number on the package from my friend's house," she said. "I ended up calling the number five times (for various reasons)."

During the course of her phone calls, she found out she was a grand prize winner of a Willy Wonka contest.

"When I found out what I won, I was jumping up and down and I started crying," she said.

What did she win?

"I won a seven-day trip for four to three amusement parks: Six Flags Magic Mountain in Los Angeles, Cedar Point, and Busch Gardens in Tampa," she listed.

The prize package includes round trip airfare, ground transportation to and from the parks, hotel accommodations, park fees and $1,500 spending money. The retail value of the prize is about $16,370.

The odds of winning this grand prize? A staggering one in 10 million.

"I think that's really something," said Amber's mom, Lori.

At first, Amber wasn't quite sure if she should believe that she actually won.

"I thought it was really awesome, but I was a bit unsure about it," she said.

Her mom had the same reaction.

"I called the next day to confirm that she actually won," Lori said. "I thought we should check into it. I was a bit skeptical. I had to make sure it wasn't a scam."

Lori said the woman she talked to had never heard of a winning candy being purchased at a school store.

"She said most of the time, the winning candy is purchased at a gas station or a store like Wal-Mart," she said.

The Ziels sent in the wrapper and the screamer box and waited a month for the papers explaining the process of claiming the prize.

So who did Amber decide to take on this once-in-a-lifetime trip?

"I'm taking my mom, her fiance, Justin, and my friend Kaycee, the one I was with when I called the first time (about my prize)," she said.

Lori said they plan on going the end of May.

"That way it shouldn't be too hot in California and Florida," she said. "I figure we'll be standing in line and I don't want us to be miserable in the summer heat."

Amber, a rollercoaster enthusiast, is very excited about the trip.

"I can't wait," she said with a big grin. "We're going to have a blast."

This will be the first time Amber has ever been on a plane, but she's not too concerned about it.

"I plan on going shopping for new clothes before the trip," she noted.

She plans to purchase plenty of souvenirs during her seven-day action packed trip.

Amber said this isn't the first time she's won something.

"I won a golf set when I was 5 for a coloring contest," she said. "I won a board game in a drawing I entered. At (Laker High School) basketball games, I win pizzas by making baskets from the three-point line."

Amber said she's been to Cedar Point before on a few occasions, but this time, she'll be able to ride the newest rollercoaster there, which is supposed to be the tallest in the world.

"We hope to do some sightseeing in California, since I'm not sure when we'd get back over there," Lori said.

Along with being the seventh-grade representative on the student council, Amber also participates in volleyball, basketball, soccer, track and cheerleading.

Amber is hoping her streak of luck will continue. She's already on to her next contest.

"I'm buying M&Ms now because they have a contest going," she said. "If you find a package with all purple M&Ms, you win a prize."

While Amber may not win another large prize like this one, Lori hopes her daughter's win is a sign.

"Maybe this is a good omen," she said with a chuckle. "That would be great."